"This report clearly indicates what we've always suspected - that the media prefer to see the world through a simple lens, a casualty of which is that the right and the conservative voice can often take control of the conversation," said Jim Forbes, a pastor and host of a radio talk show on the Air America network.

"Those of us ... who call ourselves progressives need to speak out and be heard," Forbes added.

Critics of the report questioned its depth of analysis, noting that it does not examine whether the articles mentioning conservative leaders are favorable or unfavorable.

"It's not how often you appear or get quoted, it's what they allow you to get out to the public and in what context," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute. "Mere presence does not equate with fair coverage," he added.

The Culture and Media Institute is a division of the Media Research Center, the parent organization of Cybercast News Service.

"Most Americans have seen the late Rev. Jerry Falwell misportrayed as having 'outed' the Tinky Winky children's TV character," Knight said, "but how many people know about Dr. Falwell's founding of a crisis pregnancy center, or the fact that Liberty University, which he founded, has dominated the college debate championships for years?"

Knight also questioned the list of religious leaders used in the Media Matters study, saying that the list of progressive leaders "is missing some key people, who, if included, would eclipse any perceived advantage in coverage garnered by conservatives."

"When you leave out people like the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and V. Gene Robinson, the gay Episcopal bishop from New Hampshire, you are trimming away literally hundreds of media hits," Knight said.

Waldman said it shows who the media picks as representative of religious Americans but that it did not examine whether the coverage of the religious leaders was favorable or unfavorable.

"We wanted to just ask the question of who gets quoted," Waldman said. He conceded that "it's possible" that the less frequent coverage of liberal Christians is more favorable than the more frequent coverage of conservatives.

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